Consider this...You see a trailer for a film which clearly involves a high body count, tough talking and a potentially questionable storyline. Do you go and see it? Not to plant stereotypes, but the answer is "yes" if you're a man of a certain age. Unfortunately this is not what Lucky Number Slevin is about.
I almost saw this film by accident - the trailer looked great, but I was worried that would be all there was to the film. Wrong! This fast-paced, intensive roller-coaster of a film has more twists and surprises than you know what to do with. But that's a good thing. The film starts with a gruesome murder, but quickly chops to clever cutting and pasting of a variety of scenes of black comedy, downright hilarity and impartial violence. I won't spoil the plot, but it's so hard to describe I think that'd be difficult anyway. This film doesn't have a twist in it's plot, rather the entire film is constructed of spins and contradictions that keep you guessing two paces behind the screenplay the whole time, right up until the thoroughly satisfying finale; throughout which you'll unavoidably catch yourself uttering "oh, so that's who..." many, many times.
The thing that really sets this film alight is the way it's shot. Scenes rarely last more than a minute or so, which might sound annoying, but it helps move the pace of the film into something of a hurtling theme park ride. There is never a dull moment. For those who like their movie to have a lot more action than words, this flick caters for you too - some spectacular action scenes, though understated so as to always remain believable, help solidify the plot into making this a truly magnificent work of art.
The film is also blessed with a particularly gifted, and highly suited, cast. Bruce Willis is especially memorable as the impeccable and thoroughly unnerving assassin Mr. Goodkat, and Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley are clearly in their element as the leading gangsters of the movie. Josh Hartnett shines too. Gone is his irritating schoolboy naiveness of megabucks films such as Pearl Harbour, and at last he seems to be in his element in this movie as the title character, Slevin.
In all, well worth seeing, and, even though the film is quite short at 108 minutes, the pace and completeness of the story telling is more than adequate to make you feel like you've been in the realtime of the film itself. So, all that's left to do now is see it. Go on then!